On January first, 1840, Bro. Cook married Anne Eliza Howland (daughter of Henry Howland and Phebe Baker) who was born June 18, 1823, at Stillwater, New York. Sixteen children -- Charlotte Aurelia, Daniel Webster, Harriet Betsy, Eliza Hall, Augusta Precindia, Phineas Henry, Phebe Irene, Vulcum, Ann Eliza and Alonzo (twins), Mary, Henry Howland, Martha, William, Aurelia, and Hyrum-- blessed this marriage.
Bro. Cook married Amanda P. Savage December 18, 1853, the daughter of David Savage and Theodocia Finch, who was born August 23, 1836, in Canada. She came to Utah with her father in 1847, crossing the plains in Parley P. Pratt's company. She became the mother of four children: David Savage, Rosali, and Mary (twins), and Joseph. She died July 15, 1915.
Bro. Cook's third wife was Catherine McCleave, whom he married December 18, 1853. She was the daughter of John McCleave and Nancy Jane McFerren of Belfast, Ireland. The only child by this marriage was Joseph Wolcott.
Bro. Cook married Johanna C. Poulsen as a fourth wife on September 13, 1878. She was the daughter of James Poulsen and Johanna Lundgreen and was born August 8, 1845, at Malmo, Sweden. The children by this marriage were Carl, Moses, Kib and Omer (twins), Parley, and Idalia Johannette.
Bro. Cook first heard the Gospel preached during the winter of 1844-45, and came to Winter Quarters with his family in the Fall of 1846. Two of his children died at Winter Quarters and the whole family passed through much sickness and privation. He reached Utah with his wife and two children, was a millwright, carpenter, and cabinet maker and worked on the first grist mills (Neff's and Chases) built in Salt Lake Valley in 1849 and 1850. He located in Sanpete Valley in the Fall of 1850. He became one of the first settlers of Manti, where he built the first grist mill in connection with President Brigham Young and Isaac Morley. This mill was burned by the Indians in 1853. Bro. Cook built a rock house at Manti and returned to Salt Lake in the Spring of 1853. Here he worked on the Beehive and Lion Houses and made some of the first furniture manufactured from Utah pine. He made a bureau for President Young which is now displayed in the museum in Salt Lake City. He also built a house at Bountiful for Jedediah M. Grant, moved to Payson, Utah County in 1855, built an Indian farm house west of Spanish Fork, and founded a settlement in the valley lying west of Payson in 1857, naming it Goshen for his birthplace in Connecticut. There he acted as bishop for three years.
In 1863, he went to Bear Lake among the first settlers. Here he made a hand mill to grind wheat, built a grist mill in 1856 and later a saw mill, a shingle mill, a wool carding machine, and many other things. Afterwards he moved to Logan, Utah, and labored diligently in the Temple for the dead of his father's family. Being arrested and convicted of so-called unlawful cohabitation, he served a term in the Utah Penitentiary after he was seventy years old.
The last few years of his life he spent at Afton, Wyoming. He died a faithful Latter-day-Saint July 24, 1900, at Afton, aged 81 years. Bro. Cook was the father of 28 children, 16 sons and 12 daughters. He was survived by 11 sons and 4 daughters who were all faithful members of the church. Bishop Cook was a farmer and a stockraiser of limited extent. He was known as a very kind, benevolent man, always ready to share what he had with anyone in need.